Electrochemical fabrication of Ag–Cu nano alloy and its characterization: an investigation

Abstract

An Ag–Cu (AC) bimetallic alloy nanoparticles in various proportions were fabricated by facile electrochemical process is presented in this work. Apart from the electrochemical method of synthesis, the surface morphology, crystal structure and texture as well as the optical properties of the nano alloy have been investigated. The surface morphology and the particle size of the Ag–Cu deposits were deliberated by scanning electron microscopic studies. The preferred orientation and average particle size of the AC NTs were obtained by X-ray diffraction analysis. The well-dispersed AC nano alloy (NA) exhibited ultrafine size and high crystallinity corresponding to face centered cubic Ag and Cu. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy was performed to study the optical properties of the nano alloy and the results showed that the nano alloys have wide band gap energies 3.18, 3.57 and 3.03 eV for AgCu, AgCu2 and AgCu3 NAs, respectively. The studies on size, morphology and composition of the nanoparticles were performed by means of transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray Analysis.